Here are five takeaways from the discussion:
1. David Lichtenstein, MD, panelist and director of gastrointestinal endoscopy at Boston University Medical Center said between 2012 and 2015 duodenoscopes were connected to at least 25 international outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, including eight in the United States, sickening some 250 patients and killing at least 20.
2. Dr. Lichtenstein said the device’s complex design of long, narrow tubes, sharp angles and a low margin of error for safety were main factors for infection related to duodenoscopes.
3. Solutions such as automation and video auditing of reprocessing would help in decreasing infection risk, Dr. Lichtenstein said.
4. The design of endoscopes present problems as well. “There are more outbreaks of infection associated with endoscopes than any other medical device used in healthcare,” said panelist David Weber, MD, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
5. Dr. Weber said a potential solution could be disposable, single-use scopes, but disposable duodenoscopes aren’t currently available. However, single-use bronchoscopes cost as little as $140.
More articles on GI and endoscopy:
GI leader to know: Dr. Justin Howard of University of Minnesota Medical Center
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